SWARTHMORE — U.S. Rep Joe Sestak, D-7, of Edgmont, hosted a town hall meeting Thursday to answer questions about his position on Iraq, his visit there and when troops should safely return home.
When he turned the microphone over to the public, though, the discussion quickly turned into a heated debate about impeaching George W. Bush.
Room 101 of Swarthmore College’s Science Center was filled to capacity with citizens who demanded Congress begin an impeachment process.
“I don’t think I would feel more comfortable with (Dick) Cheyney as president,” said Sestak. “Congress cannot even get stem cell research without a veto. Does anybody honestly think we could get an impeachment?”
The crowd shouted back a resounding, “YES.”
One man stood in dissent, half-agreeing with Sestak.
“I agree with you,” he said to Sestak. “I don’t think there is a snowball chance in hell of impeaching Bush. But if we don’t do anything, these officials are going to do whatever they want until their term is up.”
Sestak said impeachment was not the answer to the country’s plethora of financial and social woes, regardless of its chances of passing Congress or the Senate. He said impeachment charges would bring the nation “to an all-stop.”
“This country is $6 trillion in debt, 8 million children are uninsured and 160,000 troops are still in Iraq. What do you think will happen if there is an impeachment investigation?” Sestak asked.
“When Clinton was impeached, the country came to a halt. When the Republicans impeached Clinton they hurt this nation. I will not hurt this nation like they did.”
Sestak’s explanation only angered the crowd, which criticized Democrats for inaction regarding Iraq, impeachment and holding Republicans accountable.
A woman cited the fact that habeas corpus no longer exists, yet government officials can engage in wiretapping without a warrant. She recited the last line of the U.S. Constitution and asked Sestak, “What will it take for Congress to vote the will of the American people?”
The crowd responded with uproarious applause.
Sestak admitted habeas corpus should “be looked at in September” and told those in attendance Thursday he voted against the wiretapping bill, but “there is no more defining issue than Iraq.”
“Ending this war in Iraq is necessary, but insufficient,” he said.
“How and the means by which we end it is of even greater importance, both to the safety of our troops and to our overall strategic security.”
Sestak estimated it would take “at least a year” to ensure servicemen and women and civilians’ return home. He said a 15-20 month timetable was “realistic,” with more than 160,000 troops stationed in Iraq and more than 100,000 civilian contractors.
Citizens at the town hall meeting weren’t satisfied with spending at least another year in Iraq. Several stood up from their seats and demanded the U.S. leave Iraq “now.”
“My primary concern is troops’ safety,” Sestak said, noting there is only one road out of Iraq and two stations in Kuwait where 20 teams of combat teams must dismantle their equipment, aircraft and vehicles to clean them for environmental purposes.
He cautioned the U.S. needs time to “pursue diplomacy with Iran and Syria to bring about an un-failed state.”
Sestak said if American forces rush a redeployment, Iraq could end up like Bozrah, after Great Britain “withdrew prematurely.”
“Now there is more violence in Bozrah than there was before. Iraq will be a futile effort if we don’t have a political accommodation afterwards,” he said.
“We must approach the end of this war with a strategic approach working with the Republicans. This is not President Bush’s war, but our country’s war, because the aftermath of its consequences are so great and it requires a strategic approach to end it.”